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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

44. Hot Water Bottle Cover made from Recycled Jumper

A couple of weeks ago I flew to Wellington to celebrate my mum's 60th birthday. I arrived late at night and as the terminal doors opened I was met with an icy blast to the cheeks. Nearly 3 years in Sydney has made me soft and I was ill prepared for just how cold Wellington can be in June. When we arrived back at my sister's house I saw that she had made up a cosy bed for me. Being our mother's daughter, she had popped a hot water bottle under the covers so that the bed was extra warm. Wrapped around the hot water bottle was a nifty little cover she had fashioned out of a woollen jumper. Yes, recycled crafty goodness runs in the family! As I was packing to go home again she gave me this very cute vintage wool jumper with a Panda bear on it. She had planned to use it for another project but thought my Ben might like it. As it turns out, it was a little tight on Ben, and after these photos were taken he said "Mum can I take it off rightnow?" so I knew it wasn't going to be a winner.

So this morning I decided to turn it into a hot water bottle cover just like my little sis did. Here's how to make one yourself:

The first thing I did was lay my hot water bottle over the jumper to get the position right. Then I drew around the shape with a pen, making sure the line was at least 2.5cm away from the edge of the bottle.

The neck was left straight because we're going to use a cuff for the neck part later on. Once it was cut out I turned it inside out (right sides together) and overlocked it all around, leaving the neck and bottom edge open. Then I stitched it on my normal sewing machine for extra strength.

The neck piece is made from one of the cuffs. I cut it off and overlocked the edge before sewing it around (again, right sides together). The bottom was closed using three buttons that were on the jumper but you could insert the hot water bottle and hand stitch the opening closed, or use ties if you like.

Mr Ben was pretty happy with it. This project took around 15 minutes to complete, perfect for a quick craft on a winters day.

Hi Becs, be glad you're not still here in Welly - it's freezing today!! It was only 11 degrees inside the house when we got home, but it's toasty now the fire is on. I love your hottie cover - it's just perfect. I am going to have to keep an eye out for little jerseys at the op shop so I can make one too.

Brrrrrr to 11 degrees! I remember those days. Our last house in Wellington was an ancient weatherboard cottage in Plimmerton and it had no ceilings and skylights so the heat used to go straight up and out. My sister used a full sized hottie for hers and a normal sized jumper, just make sure the weave isn't too loose :)

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Hello

I'm Becs. I'm a Kiwi living in the beautiful Blue Mountains of NSW. I love finding old things and making them new again. This blog is full of vintage finds and design ideas as well as my family's journey toward sustainability and simple living. Thanks for visiting!

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If you would like to feature a craft post please feel free to do so as long as you link back. I'd also appreciate an email to let me know if anything I've made has been featured on your site. Please don't use my images without permission unless they are part of a craft feature.